Deliberations on Trans Mountain Pipeline Enter Next Round

The Canadian Federal Conservative Party is venting its frustration with what it perceives as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pro environment, anti - pipeline stance on the further development of Trans Mountain Pipeline.

Andrew Scheer, leader of the party, said he doubts Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s commitment to the $6.8 billion project, adding that he has "zero confidence" that Trudeau will back the pipeline to the finish line.

At the same time, Kinder Morgan has appealed again to the country's energy regulator, asking it to set up a process to resolve potential disagreements with provincial or municipal governments over its planned Trans Mountain oil pipeline expansion project.

Kinder Morgan's concern is that the British Columbia provincial government is deliberately obstructing the further development of Trans Mountain with permit delays. adding to their expenses of what is already a $7.4 billion project. The matter will be taken up by the National Energy Board (NEB).

Trans Mountain is an oil pipeline that carries crude and refined oil from Alberta to the west coast of British Columbia. It is wholly owned by the Canadian division of Kinder Morgan Energy Partners (Kinder Morgan) and has been in use since 1953. It is the only pipeline to run between these two areas.

The federal government green-lighted the project in November 2016 and the pipeline expansion would triple the amount of crude oil being carried from Alberta to the West Coast.